2017 Democratic Thread

[caulfield12]

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/23/e...ink-wink-238703

Eric Garcetti (LA Mayor) for President in 2020?

[bmags]

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archiv...eration/527229/

 

I can't take these stories. As part of any infrastructure or environmental package, the priority of lead removal and safety has to be a part of any future legislation at a national level. All the energy from people to get low income children to eat exactly what they want, how about we start by preventing them from being poisoned?

[StrangeSox]

The Seth Rich ‘Scandal’ Shows That Fox News Is Morally Bankrupt

The network I once respected as a necessary antidote to liberal media now peddles craven lies and Russian disinformation.

[StrangeSox]

Seth Rich's brother is pleading with Hannity et. al. to stop with the conspiracy theories

 

 

 

[StrangeSox]

Steve Peoples ✔ @sppeoples

Rep Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, says DNC hack may have been "insider job." CNN asks for evidence: “There’s stuff circulating on the internet"

9:36 AM - 24 May 2017

[StrangeSox]

How a dubious Russian document influenced the FBI’s handling of the Clinton probe

 

In the midst of the 2016 presidential primary season, the FBI received a purported Russian intelligence document describing a tacit understanding between the campaign of Hillary Clinton and the Justice Department over the inquiry into whether she intentionally revealed classified information through her use of a private email server.

 

The Russian document mentioned a supposed email describing how then-Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch had privately assured someone in the Clinton campaign that the email investigation would not push too deeply into the matter — a conversation that if made public would cast doubt on the inquiry’s integrity.

 

Current and former officials have said that document played a significant role in the July decision by then-FBI Director James B. Comey to announce on his own, without Justice Department involvement, that the investigation was over. That public announcement — in which he criticized Clinton and made extensive comments about the evidence — set in motion a chain of other FBI moves that Democrats now say helped Trump win the presidential election.

 

But according to the FBI’s own assessment, the document was bad intelligence — and according to people familiar with its contents, possibly even a fake sent to confuse the bureau. The Americans mentioned in the Russian document insist they do not know each other, do not speak to each other and never had any conversations remotely like the ones described in the document. Investigators have long doubted its veracity, and by August the FBI had concluded it was unreliable.

[StrangeSox]

[StrangeSox]

Republicans are introducing this bill

 

Keeping with the Trump administration’s law-and-order rhetoric, Republicans in the House and Senate recently introduced a bill they’re calling the Back the Blue Act of 2017. The Senate bill was introduced by John Cornyn (R-Tex.), and is co-sponsored by 15 senators, all Republicans. The identical House bill was introduced by Ted Poe (R-Tex.), and includes five co-sponsors, also all Republicans. The bill would create new federal crimes, impose federal police over the will of local officials and voters and shield police officers from virtually any civil liability, even in cases of egregious misconduct.

[caulfield12]

Hey, if Putin/Erdogan/Duterte/Kim Jong Eun can do it, why can't Trump???

 

Those are all strong law and order guys, highly admired/respected by their peoples.

 

Maybe Trump became a pacifist after meeting with the Pope and his tweet hasn't made it online yet for consumption...meanwhile, Donald's out of the country and the GOP is running wild making pronouncements. About pretty much everything "pro police" except for that border wall.

Edited May 25, 2017 by caulfield12

[Reddy]

Tomorrow will test the oft-posed question: Can you literally assault a reporter and still get elected in 2017?

I'm not optimistic it's a no.

 

Wow.

[caulfield12]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/greg-gianforte-r...-011839053.html

 

Montana might just have flipped back to the DEM column after the fallout of this situation with Gianforte.

 

 

 

Jacobs (The Guardian reporter) said he went to a local hospital to get an X-ray on his elbow. Gianforte left the event, and members of the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office were taking statements at the scene. Earlier on Wednesday, Jacobs had published a story in the Guardian about financial ties between Gianforte and Russian companies under U.S. sanctions.

 

The sheriff’s office initially released a statement Wednesday evening saying it was “investigating allegations of assault involving Greg Gianforte.” As interest in the story grew, a press conference was called hours later. Sheriff Brian Gootkin said he was looking into whether Gianforte had fled the scene. “That will be part of the investigation,” Gootkin said.

 

Jacobs’ account of the incident was corroborated by Fox News Alicia Acuna, who was in the room to interview Gianforte at the time the violence occurred. Acuna said Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck and slammed him to the ground before punching him repeatedly.

 

“To be clear, at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte, who left the area after giving statements to local sheriff’s deputies,” Acuna wrote in her account of the attack.

Edited May 25, 2017 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

This guy is WORSE than the Berkeley protesters...at least THEY respect the RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH/EXPRESSION/FREE PRESS.

 

 

[Quin]

Man, Fox News is backing up the story.

 

That's how you know you f***ed up.

[Reddy]

Unfortunately, I'm not confident this changes the result tomorrow. 65% of ballots have already been cast, and he may have had a good enough lead to survive. Also, the Sheriff is a supporter of Gianforte's campaign. I'd be surprised if he's arrested, as he absolutely SHOULD be.

[caulfield12]

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option...p;jumival=19164

 

Fight for the heart of the Democratic Party in California...first battle BARELY go to "corporate Dems"/Perez

 

 

Last Saturday, the Democratic party of California held its election for various positions, including its chair. A very bitter fight over who would be chair. Kimberly Ellis lost by only 62 votes. Kimberly was backed by most of the Sanders forces and, you could say, "corporate Democrats," or at least that's how they're described by the Sanders forces. Bauman won by only just, as I said, 62 votes out of 3,000 votes cast. Now Kimberly Ellis has called for an audit of that vote and is quoted as saying, "The race is not over."

 

This matters for a whole lot of reasons. The California delegation is the largest delegation at a national convention, and as Nancy Pelosi said, "California Democrats are essentially the ATM for the Democratic party, and not just for California." People running in the Democratic party from all over the country head to California and try to raise money. And, according to Pelosi, most of them have to make a visit to the chairman of the party's office.

 

It's a very influential position and it became the target, or the focal point, of what is really an ongoing civil war in many ways between the Sanders forces, who describe themselves as "progressive," they want single-payer healthcare, Medicare for all, $15. But most importantly, they don't want to raise money from billionaires. They want to raise money from the general public, and that's a point of great division in the party right now, and it was a point of great division at the California convention.

[caulfield12]

Unfortunately, I'm not confident this changes the result tomorrow. 65% of ballots have already been cast, and he may have had a good enough lead to survive. Also, the Sheriff is a supporter of Gianforte's campaign. I'd be surprised if he's arrested, as he absolutely SHOULD be.

 

How can there NOT be assault and battery charges?

 

Unless there was clear evidence the reporter provoked him deliberately, but even then, it would be hard not to charge him with lots of witnesses, it's not he said/she said in this one. Heck, the Fox News correspondent was taking the reporter's side, even.

 

 

 

 

 

He took me to the ground," Jacobs said by phone from the back of an ambulance. "I think he wailed on me once or twice ... He got on me and I think he hit me ... This is the strangest thing that has ever happened to me in reporting on politics."

 

Fox News reporter Alicia Acuna, field producer Faith Mangan and photographer Keith Railey witnessed the incident, according to an account published by foxnews.com. After Jacobs asked Gianforte his question, Acuna wrote, “Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him.

 

“Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the man, as he moved on top the reporter and began yelling something to the effect of ‘I’m sick and tired of this!’ ... To be clear, at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte, who left the area after giving statements to local sheriff’s deputies.”

 

 

Jacobs subsequently reported the incident to the police. The Gallatin County sheriff's office is investigating. A statement by campaign spokesman Shane Scanlon blamed Jacobs for the altercation, saying that he "entered the office without permission, aggressively shoved a recorder in Greg's face, and began asking badgering questions".

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/ma...-jacobs-montana

 

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/ap...ussia-companies

GOP candidate has financial ties to US-sanctioned Russian companies

 

Congressional candidate Greg Gianforte owns shares in Russian index funds

$250,000 invested in funds with holdings in Gazprom and Rosneft

Edited May 25, 2017 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

10:35 p.m.

 

Democrats are launching Facebook ads against Republican Greg Gianforte over his alleged body-slamming of a reporter.

 

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced the spots late Wednesday. It's an almost instant turnaround before polls close Thursday evening.

 

The Democratic committee said it hopes to target Democrats who were otherwise unlikely to vote in the special election.

 

The committee said it will spend "the maximum amount of money allowable" behind ads targeting the state's Republicans. The spot includes the audio recording made by reporter Ben Jacobs as Gianforte allegedly slammed him to the ground. Fox News says a crew saw Gianforte grab Jacobs by the neck and slam him to the ground.

 

Gianforte's campaign says the two fell to the ground together while fighting over a recorder.

 

Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin said authorities are investigating.

 

 

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/latest-repor...--election.html

 

No matter how this turns out, one way or the other it's yet another huge black eye for Congressional Republicans

Might even get used in other Congressional races in the future if a video somehow surfaces

 

 

Now the main political story in the US

 

But I will say that the audio released by the Guardian seems damning for Gianforte. And it doesn't jibe, at all, with the statement released by the campaign.

 

If Gianforte did, as Jacobs alleges, body slam a reporter, it follows on two other recent incidents in which reporters were roughed up for asking questions of public figures. In West Virginia, a reporter was arrested when he approached Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and began asking questions. Then, earlier this month in Washington, a reporter was pinned against a wall by security guards at the Federal Communications Commission when he approached FCC Commissioner Michael O'Reilly.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/24/politics/gre...cobs/index.html

Edited May 25, 2017 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

The Democrats virtually ignored Quist until late April. Asked about the Montana special election, Rep Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the DCCC’s 2016 national mobilization chair, told HuffPost last month he “didn’t know about that.” But as the race heated up, the party began spending more money, tripling its initial investment to $600,000 earlier this month.

 

“It seems clear that Gianforte’s massive edge in early funding allowed him to attack Quist’s character viciously before there were sufficient funds for Quist to respond to the vitriol,” Jeff Hauser, a longtime Democratic operative and director of the Revolving Door Project, told HuffPost. “If Quist should lose, the national Democrats who provided financial assistance after mail-in voting had already begun will have to question anew their initial reluctance to engage in the race in March and early April.”

 

Quist attracted the enthusiastic backing of progressive activists because of his unabashed liberal stances, including support for single-payer health insurance and legalizing marijuana.

 

Winnie Wong, co-founder of the People for Bernie, an online group, credited Sanders followers forgetting involved in Quist’s campaign early and “corner[ing]” the Democratic Party into following suit.

 

If Quist wins, Wong argued, “the overwhelming message that will resonate across the country is that Berniecrats can win in red states. That will send a message to the corporate wing of the Democratic Party to move left.”

 

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/montana-send-tru...-040042811.html

[StrangeSox]

Fox news team said he threw punches, too.

 

 

https://t.co/u4Rq2yjC5o

 

Gonna be a nice civil suit, I imagine. And even if he gianforte wins, he may get thrown out of the house and require another special anyway

 

[caulfield12]

Mulvaney claimed the new budget was all about “compassion.” It’s not everybody whose heart bleeds so much for wealthy taxpayers that he’s prepared to feed them the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

 

But Mulvaney used to be a leader in a House caucus so conservative that even the rest of the Republican majority thought they were sort of bananas. Now he’s definitely in the running for most awful cabinet member, even in a competition that includes Jeff Sessions.

 

The goal of dismantling the social safety net, Mulvaney said, was to make recipients of federal aid “take charge of their own lives.” You could certainly do some of this by identifying, say, disabled Social Security recipients who might be capable of working and giving them the right training. But that presumes your goal is actually to make the programs better. “There are a number of things that could be done. But they’re very labor-intensive,” said Cristina Martin Firvida of the AARP.

 

And the effort would probably have to be led by an administration that has made more than 54 nominations for the 500-plus top positions requiring Senate confirmation.

 

The Trump budget — just one more carp, please — is apparently going to try to limit food stamp benefits to poor families with a lot of young children. Yes! The Department of Agriculture says it’s going to cap food stamps at six people per household. If another kid comes along, they’re out of luck.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/opinion/...;pgtype=article

Edited May 25, 2017 by caulfield12

[Reddy]

The Democrats virtually ignored Quist until late April. Asked about the Montana special election, Rep Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the DCCC’s 2016 national mobilization chair, told HuffPost last month he “didn’t know about that.” But as the race heated up, the party began spending more money, tripling its initial investment to $600,000 earlier this month.

 

“It seems clear that Gianforte’s massive edge in early funding allowed him to attack Quist’s character viciously before there were sufficient funds for Quist to respond to the vitriol,” Jeff Hauser, a longtime Democratic operative and director of the Revolving Door Project, told HuffPost. “If Quist should lose, the national Democrats who provided financial assistance after mail-in voting had already begun will have to question anew their initial reluctance to engage in the race in March and early April.”

 

Quist attracted the enthusiastic backing of progressive activists because of his unabashed liberal stances, including support for single-payer health insurance and legalizing marijuana.

 

Winnie Wong, co-founder of the People for Bernie, an online group, credited Sanders followers forgetting involved in Quist’s campaign early and “corner[ing]” the Democratic Party into following suit.

 

If Quist wins, Wong argued, “the overwhelming message that will resonate across the country is that Berniecrats can win in red states. That will send a message to the corporate wing of the Democratic Party to move left.”

 

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/montana-send-tru...-040042811.html

 

Isn't it so nice, that the Bernie wing creates a win/win scenario for itself? Lose and it's the DCCCs fault and the party should move left. Win and it has nothing to do with the DCCCs contributions and proves the party should move left.

 

The reality is that it's not a one size fits all situation. In some red states, Bernie-ism plays. In some, like Georgia, it absolutely does not.

[StrangeSox]

Isn't it so nice, that the Bernie wing creates a win/win scenario for itself? Lose and it's the DCCCs fault and the party should move left. Win and it has nothing to do with the DCCCs contributions and proves the party should move left.

 

The reality is that it's not a one size fits all situation. In some red states, Bernie-ism plays. In some, like Georgia, it absolutely does not.

 

lmao let me give you an NBC hot take

 

Democrats now find themselves in a lose-lose position

 

Oddly, last night's incident in Montana has turned into a potential nightmare for Democrats. Think about it: If they win, Republicans and many observers will chalk it up to Gianforte's behavior and flaws. And if Democrats come up short — which is still a realistic possibility — people are going to say: "Democrats couldn't triumph in a competitive race where the opponent is charged with misdemeanor assault before an election!!!!" Sure, Gianforte winning will eventually be a headache for Republicans once he comes to Washington. But right now, the pressure is on the Democrats, and it puts even more pressure on the June 20 runoff in Georgia. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was already one of the losers before last night (their GOP counterparts had invested much more in the race). And when you wait too long to play, you sometimes don't find yourself in a great position to take credit if you win

[caulfield12]

Isn't it so nice, that the Bernie wing creates a win/win scenario for itself? Lose and it's the DCCCs fault and the party should move left. Win and it has nothing to do with the DCCCs contributions and proves the party should move left.

 

The reality is that it's not a one size fits all situation. In some red states, Bernie-ism plays. In some, like Georgia, it absolutely does not.

 

The Dems that stand in the way of single payer are going to get run over...the lesson Of Obama's first election and Sanders is to get thousands of small donations instead of owing allegiance to Big Pharma and the insurance industry.

[bmags]

I am really angered over this Gianforte assault. The assault is crazy, the audio when I listened last night was worse than I imagined. But the response, where they lied and basically justified that he was a liberal journalist is just too much the playbook right now. ANd right away Ingraham goes on to justify it. And right away the MRC head justifies it.

 

The National Review team and many republican ops came out against it. But the unchallenged platform *from republican politicians* that people like Bozell and Ingraham get after crap like this is ridiculous.

[bmags]

The Dems that stand in the way of single payer are going to get run over...the lesson Of Obama's first election and Sanders is to get thousands of small donations instead of owing allegiance to Big Pharma and the insurance industry.

 

The takeaway I have is that the worst thing Bernie sanders did was make his followers believe that the DNC and DCCC are powerful institutions.

 

The same people donating to DNC/DCCC were donating privately to Quist through DailyKos or SwingLeft. The continued b.s. that they are the only ones doing anything just poisons the well.

 

Parallel there between bernie sanders groups and the millionaire who believes they earned everything through sheer force and never had a helping hand.